1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a method and apparatus for providing zigzag movement to an aquatic device, such as an otter or fishing lure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Aquatic outriggers, otters and diving devices are well known. Fishing bait that incorporates movement is well known. However, the vast majority of these baits fail to simulate the large directional changes made by many natural aquatic creatures, and so provide less than ideal simulation of the natural aquatic life.
Lemon, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,298, illustrates a fishing bait having a bi-stable vane designed to generate a zigzag motion of the bait while being pulled through water. However, in the Lemon reference, the tail portion of the fishing device is relatively rigid, as is the front portion, and these sections are divided by a hinged portion. The hinge disclosed therein is prone to sticking and jamming, which leads to frequent operational failure during use. The hinges also require undesirable manufacturing steps. Furthermore, with the lack of flexibility within the head and tail sections, the fishing device of Lemon is highly prone to entering into a stalled state where the device no longer operates bi-stably, but instead pulls slightly off-center with a fixed orientation between the head and tail sections. This off-center drag will lead to the fishing device surfacing and skipping undesirably across the top of the water, without attaining the desired bi-stable zigzag motion through the water.